Data from: Phylogeny, traits and biodiversity of a neotropical bat assemblage: close relatives show similar responses to local deforestation

If species’ evolutionary pasts predetermine their responses to
evolutionarily novel stressors, then phylogeny could predict species
survival in an increasingly human-dominated world. To understand the role
of phylogenetic relatedness in structuring responses to rapid
environmental change, we focused on assemblages of Neotropical bats, an
ecologically diverse and functionally important group. We examined how
taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity shift between tropical forest and
farmland. We then explored the importance of evolutionary history by
ascertaining whether close relatives share similar responses to
environmental change and which species traits might mediate these trends.
We analyzed a 5-year data set (5,011 captures) from 18 sites in a
countryside landscape in southern Costa Rica using statistical models that
account and correct for imperfect detection of species across sites,
spatial autocorrelation, and consideration of spatial scale. Taxonomic and
phylogenetic diversity decreased with deforestation, and assemblages
became more phylogenetically clustered. Species’ responses to
deforestation were strongly phylogenetically correlated. Body mass and
absolute wing loading explained a substantial portion of species variation
in species’ habitat preferences, likely related to these traits’ influence
on maneuverability in cluttered forest environments. Our findings
highlight the role that evolutionary history plays in determining which
species will survive human impacts and the need to consider diversity
metrics, evolutionary history, and traits together when making predictions
about species persistence for conservation or ecosystem functioning.